Having read all of the pages (it's a fascinating read and I'm on break!!), some of the stuff on here just pisses me off. And I feel the need to rand about that for a minute. I think I'll do it in the form of: crap arguments of those who rip off professional artists.
Crap Argument #1: Join Them!
trensp wrote:Seriously, the label owners and producers that caused the elimination of OHMYGOSH are sealing their own fate. You CAN NOT stop this. The record industry has been trying for years and their own failure will be their outcome. A million other OHMYGOSH'S will pop up, other ways of stealing music. I personally visited that site and dled music, and bought other releases by artists I discovered at OHMYGOSH at places like beat port, juno etc.
The smart move would have been to hire those guys to promote your music, they were getting 4 thousand hits daily of people that are fans of your music and labels. Why didn't you approach them and give them high quality snippet previews to distribute? Why didnt you have them link places where your releases could be purchased? Feed them news of upcoming shows and releases... give them mp3 mixes of your artists with tracklists and places to purchase etc
I can understand, you are dogs backed into a corner... you create the music, why shouldnt people pay for it? Why should they have free access to something that is your livelyhood. Stop fighting the communites that are your audience and use them. Use the 19 year old kids in Sweden that have 5000+ followings and you will sell records and mp3s... all you do by taking a stand like this is seal your own fate.
YOU CAN NOT STOP THIS... use it to your benefit.
we are living in a very interesting time in music, and the people that adapt will be the only ones that survive... I know it maddens you, it would me if I were in your shoes... but be smart about it.
good luck to all of you,
J
This advice isn't worth much. And it's the typical half-assed answer given by most everyone who is in denial about their stealing habits. This would be a great argument except for the fact that...um....oh yes. PEOPLE WANT TO TAKE THE STUFF FOR FREE (hello..did you forget about that part??). If producers move in and try to "reform" this site into some sort of a legitimate vehicle for distributing music AND making a living, what do you think will happen? Some other douchebag in Sweden or South Africa will go start up his own site. Why? Because he can give it out FOR FREE (in case you forgot again by now).
Crap Argument #2: It shouldn't be about the money, blah blah.
catathymia wrote:Instead of being so goddamn greedy and self-centered, take a step back and ask yourself why you got into making music in the first place.......was it because you loved dancing to great music or was it to make money???
Please...this is the most idiotic sh!t response I have EVER heard in all my life and it makes me want to bitch-slap those people silly. Do you like to eat? Do you have bills to pay? Do you need money to do it?? Just because talented musicians have devoted their professional lives to making music they are passionate about doesn't mean that they don't have the same basic financial needs that you do. It's ridiculous to equate a professional musician's artistic integrity with a requirement that they starve.
And all this lecturing on artistic integrity is so ironic. Please...you wouldn't know integrity of ANY kind if it came up to you on the street and fucked you sideways. You talk about what an artist's intentions "should" be while you sit on your ass yanking stuff that is the cumulative result of years of effort by people who are trying to make a living from it...and when all too often your own artistic talent probably stops at the point of "press play" on your cdjs. Even if you can produce, just because you produce for free doesn't mean that the pros who have worked themselves into a position to have a shot at making a living from their efforts should be required to do the same.
And if you don't think that the musicians who bear all of the professional effort and financial risk to make the music you enjoy deserve any right to live off of it, then FINE - GO MAKE YOUR OWN!! Invest in the software and equipment, devote the better part of your life for a few years learning the craft and developing your creative skills, and then you'll have your own music for free. Pretty soon you'll have to, because the people you consistently cheat will move on to other opportunities to pay their bills.
In closing, I'm sick of people making childish excuses for the fact that they're STEALING. You're PATHETIC! Stop living in denial, grow up, and develop some sense of integrity and respect for others.
And no, you can't ask what I produce so that you can avoid my tunes. I can say all this sh!t cuz I'm just a guy who loves this stuff and DJs in his basement and has never made a cent off of it - AND PAYS FOR WHAT HE USES!
Thank you. That is all
